Adjustable beam and form clamp



Sept. 4, 1956 R. D. LA HAYNE ADJUSTABLE BEAM AND FORM CLAMP Filed April14, 1953 HEW INVENTOR ATTORNEYS United States Patent O ADJUSTABLE BEAMAND FORM CLAMP Richard D. La Hayne, Tampa, Fla.

Application April 14, 1953, Serial No. 348,730

3 Claims. (Cl. 144-291) This invention relates to an adjustable formclamp useful in poured masonry construction and particularly applicablefor clamping in close contact the bottom and side form boards forcasting a lintel beam, holding the form boards in rectangularrelationship, or in clamping the side form boards against the oppositesides of a wall, holding them in parallel relation for casting a beamupon the top of the wall, such for example as a perimeter beam.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a unitary clampstructure comprising a pair of rectilinear clamp jaws intersected at anintermediate point by a transverse member with respect to which saidjaws are perpendicular when the clamp is set up, said transverse memberbeing a support for the bottom form board for casting a lintel beam, andsaid jaws being the supports for the side boards of said form, said jawsbeing relatively adjustable to provide various predetermined widths ofclamp opening, there being means to maintain said jaws parallel in anyposition of adjustment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a form clamp as described,including means slidable longitudinally of the clamp jaws for engagingthe top edges of the side form boards for holding said boards againstthe clamping jaws.

Another object of the invention is to provide said transverse memberwith clamp means for drawing the side form boards tight against the sideedges of the intervening bottom form board.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following descriptionof a practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of the followingspecification, and throughout the several figures of which the samereference characters have been used to denote identical parts:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a form clamp embodying the principlesof the invention illustrated in holding position with respect to a formfor a lintel beam;

Figure 2 is a cross-section taken in a plane designated by the line 22in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the form clamp viewed from the lefthandside in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a similar view from the righthand side of Figure 2.

Referring now in detail to the several figures, the form clamp,designated as a whole by the numeral 1, comprises essentially a pair ofspaced rectilinear jaws 2 and 3, a transverse member 4 upon which thejaws are slidably mounted, a tie bar 5 for maintaining said jawsparallel when the clamp is set up, and an eccentric 6 or its equivalentpivotally mounted upon the transverse member 4 and bearing against theadjacent jaw 2 for drawing the jaws into tight contact with the form andfor locking it in this position.

Each of the jaws is composed of a pair of angle bars 7 and 8 of rightangular cross-section, positioned with their interior angles confrontingso that they form a ice channel, the adjacent flanges 9 and 10 lying inthe same plane and constituting the faces of the jaws which contact theside boards of the form. The outer flanges 11 and 12 impart depthstrength to the jaws. The base flanges are spaced apart, forming narrowslots 13, extending lengthwise of the jaws. The angle bars 7 and 8 aremaintained in spaced position by means of tie plates 14 at the top,bridging the slot and welded to the angle bars, and other tie bars 15and 16 at an intermediate point in the length of said angle bars andrelatively narrowly spaced. The jaw 3 has a similar tie bar 17 at itslower end and a tie bar 18 narrowly spaced above the tie bar 17.

The spaces between the pairs of tie bars 15 and 16 of both jaws providerunways for the transverse member 4 upon which the jaws are slidablymounted. Said runways are somewhat wider than the width of thetransverse member, to permit a small degree of oscillation of saidmember which is useful in effecting lateral relative adjustment of thejaws 2 and 3. The angle bars 7 and 8 of the jaw 2 are provided withright angular clips 19 and 20 at their lower ends, welded thereto andproviding upstanding flanges 21 and 22 spaced apart in registry with theslot 13. The upstanding flanges 21 and 22 are perforated to provideregistering holes for a bolt 23, by means of which the tie bar 5 ispivotally mounted in the lower end of the jaw 2. The opposite endportion of said tie bar 5 is slidable through the space between the tieplates 17 and 18, which space is wider than the width of said tie bar,to permit limited oscillation of the latter. The free ends of thetransverse member 4 and the tie bar 5 are bent angularly to form theflanges 24 and 25 which retain the jaws on said transverse member andtie bar, and make the form clamp a unitary structure.

The transverse member 4 is provided on its upper side with a series ofnotches 26, 27, 28 and 29 of such width as to receive the lower side ofthe tie plate 15 of the jaw 3. Said slots provide means for adjustingthe jaw 3 laterally with respect to the jaw 2, the slot 26 beingpositioned so that when the tie plate 15 of the jaw 3 is within saidslot, the interior width of the form will be 6 inches. The other slotsare positioned so as to successively increase the interior width of theform by multiples of 2 inches.

The lower side of the transverse member 4 is provided with similar slots30 and 31, which receive the upper side of the tie plate 16 of the jaw3. These are so positioned as to provide an adjustment of the jaw 3 withrespect to the jaw 2, to provide a modular width of respectively 7%inches and 11 /8 inches to the interior of the form. The tie bar 5 has aseries of notches 26a, 30a, 27a, 28a, 31a and 29a on its lower side,sized to receive the tie bar '17 of the jaw 3, and corresponding to therespective slots in the transverse member 4. When the jaw 3 is seated incorresponding slots of both the transverse member 4 and tie bar 5, saidjaws are substantially parallel, the purpose of the tie bar 5 being tohold them parallel. The adjustment is made by oscillating the transversemember 4 and tie bar 5 to a free position between the pairs of tie bars15 and 16 and '17 and 18, then moving the jaw 3 inwardly or outwardlyuntil the tie plates 15 or 16, and 17 are in registry with thecorresponding slots representing the desired width 'of form. Then thetrans verse member 4 is moved to interlock the tie plate 15 with theselected slot, while the tie bar 5 is similarly moved to engage the tieplate 17 with the corresponding slot.

The tie plates 15 and 16 of the jaw 2 form an abutment for the eccentric6. Said eccentric has an operating handle 32. After the width adjustmenthas been made in the manner described, the eccentric is rotated to bringpressure against the tie plates 15 and 16, drawing the transverse member4 slightly in a leftward direction, tightening the jaws against the formmembers and frictionally locking the jaws in their adjusted positron.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the transverse member 4 afiords support forthe bottom form board 33. This board is normally set inside of the sideform boards 34 and 35 so that the clamping pressure of the eccentric 6tightens the side boards against the bottom board and prevents leakagethrough the joints between said form boards; The part of the slots 13which extend above the tie plates 15' form runways for the keepers 36.Said keepers are in the form of headed rods 37, having portions whichextend through said slots with retaining nuts 38 on the inside of saidjaws adjusted to permit free sliding movement of the keepers. The innerends of the keepers are bent down parallel to the adjacent faces of thejaws and at such distance therefrom as to overlie the upper edges of theside form boards, as shown in Figure 2. These keepers hold the side formboards in contact with the adjacent faces of the jaw and maintain theWidth of the form uniform throughout its height. The keepers areadjustable longitudinally so as to cooperate with form boards of variousheight. The tie bar may be supported upon a suitable shore, not shown,to sustain the Weight of the newly poured beam.

By inverting the clamp it may be employed to retain the side boards ofa'- form used in pouring a perimeter beam, where no bottom form board isemployed, and where the side form boards are clamped against themasonry. In this case the transverse member 4 will rest upon the top ofthe side form boards, the keepers 36 not being employed; In order tokeep the free ends' of the side form boards parallel, a stake of properwidth will be inserted between them to transmit the thrust of thepressure of the eccentric.

While I have in the above description disclosed a practical embodimentof the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatthe specific details of construction and arrangement of parts are by wayof illustration and not to be construed as limiting the scope of theinvention.

What I claim isi 1. Form clamp comprising a pair of rectilinear spacedjaw members of channel shaped cross-section having the webs of channelsconfronting forming the clamping faces, and being formed each with anintermediate longitudinal slot, pairs of spaced bridging bars, one pairfor each jaw member, correspondingly fixedly positioned within thechannels of the respective jaw members at intermediate points in theirlength, bridging said slots, cooperating with the sides of said slots toform openings, a transverse member extending sildably through saidopenings with slight play in the direction of the length or" said slots,said transverse member having a series of notches toward one endselectively engageable with one of the bridging bars of one jaw member,a cam pivotally con nected to said transverse member at its opposite endoutside the opposite jaw member, having an operating handle fortightening said clamp against aform board positioned between said jawmembers, said cam when in tightened positioned being. stably seatedbetween the bridgingbars of the adjacent jaw member and in contact withsaid bars, a tie bar bridging said clamp at the lower ends of said jawmembers pivoted at one end to the jaw member engageable by said cam,spaced bridging bars secured within the channel of the opposite jawmember at its lower enddefi ning with the" sides of the channel bridgedthereby an opening through which said tie bar extends with slight rangeof swinging movement,- said tie bar being providedwith a series ofnotches engage able selectively with one at the last mentioned bridgingbars, corresponding notches ofbothseries being parallel to the clampfaces of said jaw members.

2. Form clamp as claimed in claim 1, including keepers slidably retainedin said slots, said keepers being formed with book ends adapted tooverhook the upper edges of form boards.

3. Form clamp as claimed inclaim- 1, the ends of said transverse memberand said tie bar, remote respectively from said cam and said pivotalconnection, being angularly turned to retain said jaw members, saidtransverse member and said tie bar as an inseparable unit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS858,480 Sprague 2 July 2, 1907 1,020,164 Symons i Mar. 12, 19121,067,420 Fprbis -2 July 15, 1913 1,322,784 Greulock Nov. 25, 19191,619,749 Murray Mar. 1, 1927 1,644,586 Heltzel Oct. 4, 1927 1,687,976Ford 2 Oct. 1 1928 1,699,503 Lampert Ian. 15, 1929 2,395,607 AalbergFeb. 26, 1946 2,400,852 Stevenson May 21, 1946 2,513,882 Magdiel July 4,1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 284,157 Cfr'eat Britain Jan. 26, 1928 6,829 GreatBritain Dec. 11, 1911

